


Idle Tears

by vjs2259



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-15
Updated: 2007-04-15
Packaged: 2018-02-09 13:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1984152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vjs2259/pseuds/vjs2259
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Memories of home and loss bring Susan and Marcus briefly together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Idle Tears

**Author's Note:**

> The poem quoted, and used for the title, is 'Idle Tears' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Marcus pulled out a chair from the table and sat down opposite Susan. “So, what’s going on?”

Susan glared at him over the edge of her glass, tipped up to get the last drop of sub-standard vodka she was drinking. “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on! Can’t a girl sit down alone in a bar and have a drink without some deep hidden meaning behind it?”

Marcus sighed, “You stormed out of the War Council meeting this afternoon, then disappeared. No one has seen you for hours! He leaned closer and leered, “It’s only cuz we care…”

“Who is this ‘we’, Marcus? I can’t believe anyone sent you to find me…” Her voice trailed off, sounding suspiciously close to tears. “I don’t believe anyone cares either.”

Marcus was taken aback by this show of self-pity. It wasn’t the Ivanova he knew, and had come to care for pretty deeply. “What’s going on, Susan? I really do want to know, and to help, if I can.” _If you’ll let me_ , he thought.

Susan absently tugged at the single earring she always wore. “Do you know what day it is, Marcus? What happened on this day 15 years ago?”

“15 years ago? During the war? You must have been still at school!”

“I was. But my brother Ganya wasn’t. This is the anniversary of the battle where my brother died. It broke what was left of my family apart. I left home the next day, and enlisted against my father’s wishes. I haven’t been home since.”

“My brother William died fighting the Shadows.” Marcus replied. His face was haunted, and his voice trembled slightly. “I joined up with the Rangers afterwards, to finish the job he’d started. I’ve been all over since, but never back home. We’re more alike than I thought. Funny, that.”

Susan’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and hard as she tried to contain them, one slipped out and fell slowly down her cheek. Marcus held his breath for a moment, caught by the beauty of her sorrowful face. He gently reached over to wipe away the solitary tear, reciting softly,

_‘Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,_  
 _Tears from the depth of some divine despair_  
 _Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,_  
 _In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,_  
 _And thinking of the days that are no more.’_

“Come on,” he continued, “Let’s get you home. Upsy daisy,” He helped her to her unsteady feet. Lending her an arm, he escorted her out of the dim, dingy bar.

He had them both laughing, reminiscing about their respective childhood escapades, by the time they reached Susan’s quarters. She insisted he come in, and he put up only a token show of reluctance. A few moments they were sitting together on the couch. Susan had leaned close to place her head on Marcus’ shoulder. He held perfectly still, as if a wild bird had perched on an outstretched finger.

“Marcus,” Susan began, “Do you like me?”

“Like you! Of course I like you. What’s not to like?” Startled by the question, he spoke rapidly to cover his confusion.

She pulled back from him, so she could look directly into his eyes. Then she reached up, placed her hands on either side of his head, and drew him down to her. She pressed her lips firmly to his, reveling in their soft warmth. Her fingers twined in his silky hair, and she gently forced open his mouth with her eager tongue.

At first Marcus didn’t know how to respond to her embrace. It wasn’t as if he’d never kissed a girl before, but it was different with Susan. Rational thought fled as his body responded to the fervent kisses of the woman he thought might be the only one for him. His arms closed tightly around her, his hands moving caressingly down her spine, then up into her cascading hair.

They broke apart, and stared at each other, breathless, ecstatic, and frightened, at the depth of feeling the kiss had revealed. Susan dropped her head back on Marcus’ shoulder, and he held her gently and carefully, as if she was a precious object that might break.

********************************

A few years later, Susan looked up the Tennyson poem that Marcus had quoted that night. As she read the last stanza, she broke down in tears, once again faced with the depth of her loss….

_‘Dear as remembered kisses after death,_  
 _And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned_  
 _On lips that are for others; deep as love,_  
 _Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;_  
 _O Death in Life, the days that are no more.’_

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a set of prompts: Susan/Marcus, home, and poetry. I don't recall who set them any more, sorry.


End file.
